Conveyer.



E. A. REED.

CONVEYER.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV.5| 1914.

1,1 58,848. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

COLUMBIA moan/um cu.. WASHINGTON. ufc.

E. A. REED.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED N0v.5. 1914.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

1712/67? 07" Edward flfieea l ww I WW COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.,WASHINGTON, D. c

" To all whomz't may concern:

' EDWARD A. REED, 0F OTTAWA, ILLINOIS.

. coivvnvne.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

' Application filed November 5, 1914. Serial No. 870,328.

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. REED, a citizen of the 'United States, anda. resident of Gttawa, in the county of La Salle and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyors; and i Ido hereby declare that the following'is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of thisspeoification. V v

This invention relates in particular to a portable conveyer outfitdesigned especially for unloading ears of corn or small grainin crib,barn, car or the like. A conveyer of the type referred to comprlses ngeneral, an.

elevator adapted toreceive the material at its lower end, raise the.material and discharge it at its upper end into a horizontal drag orcrib conveyer, the latter belng located in and supported above thefloorof the crib or barn. The material is discharged from the horizontaldrag or crib conveyer into the crib, barn, car or other compartmentprovided to receive thesame.

Among the objects of the invention is to improve the construction of thehorizontal drag or crib conveyer intheseveral particui l the conveyer,the material is discharged from the conveyer at a plurality of chang- 7ing points, and the material is deposited on lars as will hereinafterappear, and to provide in particular, means whereby the dischargeopening'of said horizontal drag or crib conveyer will be moved fromoneend of the conveyer to the other during the operation of the conveyerand thereby gain a uniform distribution of the material in the crib orother receptacle provided to receive the material. By moving thedischarge opening of the horizontal drag or crib conveyer continuouslyfrom one end of'the conveyer to the other during the operation ofthefloor of the crib or the like, in a layer of a uniform depth.

The invention consists further in matters hereinafter described and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying "drawings illustrating my invention: Figure 1 is avlew in perspective of a portable conveyer outfit of the kind referredto and showing the same in position along side of a crib with thehorizontal drag or crib conveyer embodying the features of my inventionlocated in a crib,

barn, or other receptacle provided to receive being shown.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a horizontal drag orcribconveyer embodying the features of my invention. As shown in Fig. 1,the conveyer 10 is located in a corn crib or barn 11, which is adaptedto receive the material discharged from said conveyer.

Said conveyer 10 is horizontally arranged above, and preferably parallelto the floor of the crib or' barn 11 and is suspended from the ceilingof the latter by suspension hooks or other devices 12, 12. The materialtobe loaded in saidcrib or barn 11 isbrought in from the field by awagon or other like portable receptacle, 13. The material in said wagon13. is dumped therefrom into an upwardly opening hopper 14 at the bottom.of an elevator 15 which discharges at its upper end into saidhorizontal conveyer 10. As

shown, the elevator 15 is located exterior to the crib 11. The upper endof said elevator extends into thecrib in position to discharge into theconveyer 10 through a window opening or the like in the adjacent endwall of said crib. In. the type of device shown in Fig. 1, theconveyer1Q is'known as the horizontal drag or crib conveyer.

As shown in Figs. 2 to 4:, both inclusive, the conveyer 10 comprises apair of laterally "spaced upright sidewalls 16, 16%, preferably,

equal in length and height. Extending be tween the side walls 16, 16 atone end there of is a shaft 17. Extending between said side walls 16,16? at the opposite end of the conveyer is a shaft 18. Extending betweensaid side walls 16, 16 between the shafts 17 and 18 and adjacent theformer, is a shaft 19. Said shafts 1T, 18 and 19 are parallel to eachother and each of said shafts has its ends journaled in the side walls16, 16 of the conveyer.

Mounted on the shaft 17 between the side walls 16, 16 is a pair ofsprocket Wheels so as to rotate therewith.

' are secured to the shaft 17 20, 20, the latter being secured to saidshaft the drawing, said ,sprocket wheels 20,; by set screwsor the like21, 21. r

Loosely mounted on the shaft 18 between the side walls 16,16 is a pairofsprocket 7 wheels 22, 22, laterally spaced apart. Said sprocket wheels22, 22 are equal in diam eter to each other and to the sprocket wheels20, 20 at the opposite end of the conveyer .191 Also loosely mounted.onsaid shaft 18 between said sprocket wheels 22, 22 is. a pair ofsprocket wheels23, 23, the latter being inside of the pair of sprocketwheels 22, 22. (See Fig. 4:.) .As shown in said Fig.4, said shaft 18 isprovided with re ducedends forming laterally, outwardly facing shoulders24 against which the'inner, 2Q

small sprocket wheels bear. A washer on the like, 18, is interposedbetween eachset of larger and smaller sprocket wheels 22, 23-

' respectively. The shoulders 24 prevent the adjacent'set of largerjandsmaller sprocket wheels from moving laterally inward. Lateral'ioutwardno-vement of said set of sprocl'ze t wheels is prevented by the adjacentside wall of. the conveyer.

sprocket wheels 25,25. Said sprocket wheels 25, 25are fixed tothe shaft19 so as to rotate therewith. Y As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, said sprocketwheels 25, 25are. secured to the'shaft 19 by set screws orthe like, 26,26.

The sprocket wheels 23, 23 at one end of the conveyer and the sprocketwheels 25, 25

at. theopposite end of the conveyer are each equalin'diameter; but allof said sprocket wheels 23,25 are smaller in diameter than the sprocketwheels 20, 22. ,7

The pairof sprocket wheels 23, 23 at one .end'of the conveyer are inlongitudinal 'alinernent with :the like pair of sprocket wheels 25, 2 5a"t] the opposite end ofthe 'conveyer. In other words, the smallersprocket wheel at [one end of the conveyer and adjacent the side,walllti, is in alinement with the smallersprocket wheel at, the other 7end. of the conveyer and adj acent' thesame tudinally alined smallersprocket wheels adjacent, the side wall 16: of, the conveyer. Ex fi efles etw e a c nnec d with s id As shown-in Mounted on theshaft19betweensaid side walls v16, 16of the conveyer, is a pair of chains'28,28st a plurality of longitudinally spaced points, are a plurality offlat scrapers or s l ats 29, 29. Said scrapers are rigidly connectedwith the chains 28, 28 by fasteningscre'ws 30, 3O insertedthroughinwardly extending ears or lugs 31, 31 on the inner sidesof-said chains28, 28. See Figs. 3 and" i 4. The flat scrapers 29, 29 are preferablyspaced equal distances apart and extend transversely across 28,28.

The

5 the conveyer chains larger sprocket wheels 20, 20 at one.

end of theconveyer, are equal in diameter" to each other and to the likelarger sprocket V wheels 22, 22 atjthe opposite end of: the con-V veyer.The pair of larger sprocketwheels at one end of the conveyer are inlongitudi nal alinement with like sprocket wheels at w the opposite endof theconveyer. Trained over said-larger sprocket'wheels is anendlessmember in the form of a belt .32 which ex tendsbetween'theside walls 16,16 of the conveyer 10 and incloses the slat or scraper conveyer 27 andits "operating sprocket.

wheels 23,25. In other words, the upper andlowerlaps of said endlessbelt 32 are above and below the upper and lower laps of-the scraperconveyer :27. '(See Fig. 2.)

The lower lap of theendless belt 32 is be low, but, isarranged paralleltothe lower lap 915 Y of the conveyer 27'thereabove. The lower lap; ofsaid endless belt 32 or that portion of said belt which is always 'belowthe ap conveyel" 2 o ms in, elfect a mov;

able bottom forthe conveyer 10 and serves to support the inaterialdischarged there-j;

into'during its progress, toward the discharge openingin said belt. 'Thematerialto ,be carried by the conveyer 10 is dis charged into the samebetween the upper and lower laps of said scraper conveyer Q27 7 throughone-of thelside wallsof the con veyerbymeans of a Spent 33. As shown inFigs. .2 and 3, said spout33 extends into the conveyer through anopening 34 madein the sidewall 16*. The endless belt 32 is providedwitha plurality of discharge openings.

35, .36." (See Fig. 2.)

,Theshafts 17 and 19 extend at, oneend g beyondone of the side walls ofthe .conveyerlO; As shown in. the drawings, the

is shaft 17., 19 extend beyond the side member: 16. iMou'nted oneachfshaft17, 19 exterior to theside member vl6, is a gear wheel 37,

38. Saidgear wheels are. equal in diameter and are securedtoth'e.shafts17,19 so as to rotatetherewith. The gear wheels 37,38 meshwith each other so that the rotation of one will rotate" the} other; IAs said gear.

wheels are equal in" diameter, the shafts 17, 19 WilLbeQturned at'thesame rate of speed but in, opposite directions. As a result, the endlessscraper conveyer 27 and the endless belt 32.travel at the samerateofspeed, but

in oppositeldirections. follows, that the endless scraper conveyer ismoved in one direction while the endless belt 32 is moved in theopposite direction. The endless belt 32 is provided along itslongitudinal margins with a plurality of equally spaced holes, 39, 3911sshown moreclearly in Fig. 6. Said holes 39, 39 receive the sprocketteeth of the large sprocket wheels as the belt passes over the largesprocket wheels. The endless belt 32 is moved upon the rotation of saidlarge sprocket wheels.

For supporting the upper lap of the endless belt 32, sideplates 40, 40are secured by fastening members or bolts 41, 41 to the inner sides ofthe sidewalls 16, 16 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. The upper lap ofsaid endless belt 32 is adapted to slide along the upwardly facingsurfaces of the said side plates .40, 40. For supportingfthelower lap ofsaid endless belt 32, strips or bars 42, 42

are secured to theinner faces-of the sidewalls, 16, 16 below the lowerlap of the endless belt. The lower lap of-said endless belt 32 isadapted to slide on the upwardly facing surfaces of said bars 42, 42.The upper laps of the sprocket chains 28, 28 'of the slat or scraperconveyer 27 are supported by strips orbars 43, 43 below such parts ofsaid chains, while the lower laps of said sprocket chains are supportedby like strips or bars 44, 44 below such parts of said chains. Saidsupporting bars 43, 43 and 44, 44 are secured to the innersides of saidsupporting plates 40, 40 as shown in Fig. 3.

The horizontal drag or crib conveyer 10 herein shown and describedoperates in the following manner: Ears of corn or grain to bedepositedin thecrib or barn ll are dumped from the wagon or otherportable receptacle 13- into the upwardly opening hopper. 14at the.bottom or foot of the upwardly inclined elevator 15. Said elevator 15 isset in motion by rotating a main drive shaft 46, the latter beingconnected with and rotated by any sort of aprime mover, such as a gasengine, or the like. The head shaft 47 at the upper end of theelevatoris turned by moving the endless lift conveyer in the elevator15. Said head shaft 47 is provided on its end extending exteriorto theside of the elevator 15 with a sprocket wheel 48. A sprocket chain 49transmits power .from said sprocket wheel .48 on the head shaft 47 tothe shaft 19 of the horizontal drag or crib conveyer 10. Said sprocketchain 49 is trained over a sprocket wheel 19 on said shaft 19 (see Fig.3)., In operating theelevator, the intermeshing gear, wheels 37, 38 onthe shaft 17, 19 of the horizontal drag or crib conveyer 10 are rotated,and as a result, the parts 'of the latter set in motion. As the elevator15 is operated, the material emptied from the wagon 13 is raised to thetop of the elevator and dumped into the spout 33. The upper end of theele# direction opposite or contrary to the direction of movement of thescraper conveyer 27, and when the parts are in positions shown in Fig.2, the opening 35 in the endless belt 32 is below the lower lap of theendless scraper conveyer 27 and adjacent the shaft 18 at the farther endof said horizontal drag 10. The material carried forward by the scrapers29, 29 is discharged from the drag 10 through said opening 35 as soon asthe material is moved into such opening. The material discharged fromthe drag 10 falls upon the floor of the crib or barn 11, as is apparent.As the endless belt 32 moves, the discharge opening 35 travels towardthe shaft 17 at the nearest. end of successive points along the lengthof the drag. In other words, the discharge opening constantly changingits position, the materials is discharged from the drag 10 continuously,the point of discharge moving from one end of the drag to the other.When' the discharge opening 35 reaches a point beyond the chute 33, thedischarge opening 36 has been moved into position adjacent the shaft 18and below the slat conveyer 27. In short, when one discharge opening inthe endless member 32 moves out of discharging position at one end ofthe drag, another discharge opening moves into discharging position atthe opposite end of the conveyer. By moving the discharge opening fromone end of the conveyer to the other, the material is deposited on thefloor of the crib or barn 11 in a layer ofuniform depth, and the pilingof the material in one pile of a thickness greater than another pile, isobviated. In other words, the horizontal drag or crib conveyer 10constructed and described as herein shown, automatically effects anequal distribution of the material in the crib or barn 11 withoutrequiring the operator to manually move the discharge opening from oneend of the drag to the other. After the drag or conveyer 10 is set inmotion, the material is discharged therefrom at a plurality ofsuccessive points along the length of the drag without requiring anyattention being given thereto by the operator.

, In horizontal drags or crib conveyors hereother.

tofore constructed and employed, the ma terial was discharged from thedrag through a discharge spout which could be moved' manually from oneend of the drag to the Often times, the material was allowed to pile upin one spot before the'discharge spout was moved so' as to start anotherpile in the crib; This resulted inpiling the material in the crib inpiles of uh equal depths and in the case of ears of corn, the pilesbeing of unequal depth, the corn at the bottom of the deepest pile couldnot be sufiiciently dried and therefore, became decomposed andworthless. A careless operator could effect the loss of many ears ofcorn by failure to change the 'po sition'of the discharge spout.

With a horizontal drag or crib conveyer embodying the features of myinvention, an equal distribution of the material over the floor of thecrib or bin is efl'ectedwithout' requiring any attendance on the part ofthe opera-ton It follows, that the material will be deposited in thecrib in a pile of equal depth throughout, so in the c'aseears of cornare being handled, the corn in one part of the crib willnot be piled tosuch aheight as to prevent the corn in the lower part of the pile-fromproperly drying.

The endless belt 32 may be constructed in any suitable manner as long asthe objects to be accomplished are performed' I have shown in thedrawings, a preferred manner in which said endless belt 32 may be made.As best shown in Fig. 6, the'endless belt 32' comprises a plurality offlat metal plates,- 50, 50, equal in width and length and flexiblyconnected at their meeting lateral edges, so that said plates willreadily turn on a longitudinal axis-as they pass around the sprocketwheels 20, 22. Said plates 50, 50 extend entirely across the endlessbelt 32, and are flexibly connected together by bending the adjacentlateral edges of the plates upwardlyinto tubular form and inserting apintle or rod 51 through the tubular parts thusformed. As shown in saidFig. 6, one plate 50'is provided along one of its lateral edges withtubular parts 52, 52 terminating short of the central portion oftheplate. The next adjacent plate 50 is provided along its marginadjacent the tubular parts 52, 52 of the precedingplate, with a tubularportion 53, centrally disposed, and adapted to occupy the space betweenthe tubular-parts 52, 52 of the preceding plate 50. When the tubularparts of the plates are in alinement, as shown in Fig. 6, the pintle o1-rod 51 is inserted through such parts so as to pivotally connect theplates 50, '50 together. Each plate 50 is so constructed and flexiblyconnected with its adjacent plates .50, 50 in the manner described. Atthe discharge open? ing formed in the endless belt 32, the plates 50 ateach side of the discharge opening are spaced apart a suflicientdistance to provide eral margins of the plates in a tubular form.

One tubular portion 56, 57 is on one short plate and the other tubularportion is on the other plate. A- short pintle or rod 58'- is insertedthrough the alined tubular portions of the short plates 55, 55, so as topivotally. connect the latter together. As shown -in Fig. 6, the holes39, 39 for the sprocket teeth are formedin the plates of whichtheendless belt 32 is constructed. It is, of course, tobe'understood,-that the endless belt' 32 may be made in anysuitablemanner and "any. suitable meansmay'be employed for driving the samesimultaneously with the scraper or like conveyer 27.

The lower-lap of the flexible member 32, i

or that portionof the endless belt'32 which is always below the lowerlap ofthesoraper chain 27, constitutes in effect the bottomof thehorizontal drag or crib conveyer lt). As V the endless belt moves, thedrag 10flis pro-" vided with'a movable bottoml' The dis charge openingbeing in the 'movablebottom, the dragIO is provided with amovable-discharge opening, or as maybe expressed, with a movable bottomhaving a discharge open ing therein. f1 i F In Fig; 2 I have shown earsof corn 59,59 being moved over the movable bottom of the drag'10 by theflat'upright scrapers orslats i v l Although I have shown'my inventionas applied to the horizontaldrag or 'cribjconveyer of aportable corn orsmall grain conveyer'outfit, it is to be of course u nder stood, that'Imay apply the featureseof rnyinvention to any type of conveyer whereinan equal distributioniof'material over the floor ofthe desired.

A device herein described andshow'nindetail, although embodying thefeatures of compartment or receptacle is 1 my invention, may bevariously modified 7 with regard to its details of construction andarrangement of parts and I don'ot de;

siretobe limited to the specific features' illustrated 1 and described,except in pointed out in the annexed claims. 7

- I claim as my invention: V 1. A conveyer, comprising sidewalls, and

so far as a bottom wall adapted to be moved endwise ofthe conveyer, saidbottom wall being pro vided with a discharge opening adapted to be movedfrom one end of the conveyer to the other in the endwise movement ofsaid bottom wall, means for moving the material, 7, V deposited on saidbottom 'wall,"toward said 7 discharge opening, and mechanism connectingsaid means with said bottom wall whereby the former and the latter willbe moved simultaneously.

2. A conveyer, comprising side walls, an endless belt located betweensaid side walls and having a portion extending along the bottom of theconveyer and forming a movable bottom for the same, said belt beingprovided with a discharge opening adapted to be moved from one end ofthe conveyer to the other in the movement of said belt, means for movingthe material, deposited on the portion of said belt forming the movablebottom, toward said discharge opening, and mechanism connecting saidmeans with said belt whereby the former and the latter will be movedsimultaneously and in opposite directions.

3. A conveyer, comprising side walls, an endless belt located betweensaid side walls and having a portion extending along the bottom of theconveyer and formin a movable bottom for the same, said beat beingprovided with a discharge opening adapted to be moved along the bottomof the conveyer from one end thereof to the other in the movement ofsaid belt, an endless member embracing means acting to move thematerial, deposited on the portion of the belt forming the movablebottom, toward said discharge opening, and mechanism connecting saidbelt with said endless member whereby the former and the latter will bemoved simultaneously and in opposite directions.

4. A conveyer, comprising side walls, an endless belt located betweensaid side walls and having a portion extending along the bottom of theconveyer and forming a movable bottom for the same, said belt beingprovided with a discharge opening adapted to be moved along the bottomof the conveyer from one end thereof to the other in the movement ofsaid belt, an endless member embracing a plurality of scrapers or slatsadapted to move the material, deposited on the portion of the'beltforming the movable bottom, toward said discharge opening, and mechanismconnecting said belt with said endless member whereby the former and thelatter will be moved simultaneously and in opposite directions. 7

5. A conveyer, comprising side walls,

shafts extending between and journaled in the side walls; there beingone shaft adjacent each end of the conveyer, a rotary member mounted oneach of said shafts, an endless belt trained over and moved by saidrotary members and having a portion thereof extending along the bottomof the conveyer and forming a movable bottom for the same, said beltbeing provided with a discharge opening, adapted in the movement of thebelt to be moved along the bottom of the conveyer from one endthereof tothe other, an endless member located in said conveyerfor moving thematerial, deposited on the movable bottom, toward said dischargeopening, and mechanism connecting said belt with said endless memberwhereby the latter and the former will be moved simultaneously and inopposite directions.

6. A conveyer, comprising side walls, shafts extending between andjournaled in said side walls; there being a shaft adjacent each end ofthe conveyer and a shaft intermediate the first mentioned shafts, rotarymembers mounted on each of said shafts, an endless belt trained over andmoved by the rotary members mounted on the shafts at the opposite end ofthe conveyer, one of the laps of said belt extending along the bottom ofthe conveyer and forming a movable bot tom for the same, said endlessbelt being provided with a discharge opening adapted to be moved alongthe bottom of the conveyer from one end thereof to the other in themovement of said belt, an endless member trained over and moved by therotary members on the intermediate shaft and the shaft at the oppositeend of the conveyer, a plurality of scrapers or slats secured to saidendless member and adapted to move the material, deposited in the lowerlap of the belt, toward said discharge opening, and mechanism connectingsaid intermediate shaft with the adjacent end shaft whereby said beltand said endless member will be moved simultaneously and in oppositedirections.

In testimony, that I, do claim the foregoing as my own invention andaflix my own signature in the presence of witnesses, this second day ofNovember A. D. 19141.

EDWARD A. REED.

Witnesses:

MARGARET BRETAG, AMY Voonnnns, JACOB J. EOKERT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

